pre-NYE

New Year's Eve is coming up, and if you're planning on being in Dublin on the night, you should head over to Vicar Street for the Turning Pirate's Mixed Tape NYE Party. Here's a link to the poster. The lineup inlcudes Cathy Davey, Richie Egan, Jerry Fish, and Lisa Hannigan, who I (along with virtually everyone who's ever seen her perform) absolutely adore. Lisa's got a lovely voice, and even though it's a bit small, she's got such wonderful control and such an unusual blend of idiosyncracies in her sound that her limited projection doesn't really matter. After all, she's not singing at the Met, plus she's usually amplified, which lets her be as whispery as she likes without any trouble. I've never been much of a Damien Rice fan, which probably explains why I was so glad when Hannigan stopped singing backing vocals for him and went off on her own. It seems to be working out for her, and I'm glad for it.

For those of you who've never hear of Lisa, there's loads of stuff on iTunes and YouTube to clue you in, including this slightly-twee-but-hugely-charming video for her song, Lille:

Incidentally, my good friend, The Man in Seat 61, has posted an explanation of how to get from London to Dublin by train and ferry for only £30.50 each way, any day of the year. Not only is the fare cheap, but the journey keeps you out of airports, and I doubt I need to go into the merits of that arrangement at this time of the year.